The Colorado Midland was organized to build the first standard guage railroad directly across the Colorado Rockies. This forced the D&RG / RGW management to convert the Denver - Ogden main line to standard gauge to remain competitive for transcontinental traffic.
Construction of the CM began at Colorado Springs in 1886, three years after incorporation. The CM was built over Ute Pass, across the southern end of South Park, then into the Arkansas Valley, running north Leadville, then west to cross Hagerman Pass, dropping to Basalt, and Glenwood Springs, all reached in 1887. A branch from Basalt to Aspen was under construction, but not finished until 1888. In 1888 the CM completed its line to Newcastle.
A jointly owned company, the Rio Grande Junction, built a standard gauge line from Gramid, just west of Newcastle, to Grand Junction, for use by both the D&RG and the CM, opening for traffic in 1890. Despite AT&SF backing, the CM never got west of Grand Junction. The CM's grades and curves were more severe than on the AT&SF at Raton Pass, or the UP on the original Sherman Hill 'gangplank.' It became evident that major improvments to the main line would be necessary for transcontinetal traffic - a point emphatically underscored in 1918.
Improvemnts came in the form of a low grade freight bypass to Leadville, and the Busk - Ivanhoe Tunnel, at a summit elevation 10,944, compared to 11,500 at Hagerman on the original line. The Busk - Ivanhoe Tunnel was completed in December, 1893.
The discovery of gold near Cripple Creek started a stampede to the area, and numerous proposals to connect it to the railroad network. A 36 inch gauge line to connect to the D&RG at Florence was organized, as was the Midland Terminal, a connection to the Colorado Midland at Divide, the summit of Ute Pass. After some consideration of the expediency of narrow gauge vs standard, the Midland Terminal was to be built standard gauge, as a connection with the Colorado Midland. By December, 1893 the MT had 7 miles of track completed soth from Divide. The narrow gauge F&CC would reach Cripple Creek first, (July, 1894), but the MT was the longest lasting of three railroads to serve the district, although it did not finally reach Cripple Creek until 1895.
Despite AT&SF connections, the Colorado Midland was at a disdvantage as long as it relied on the D&RG / RGW to be its western connection. During World War I, the federal nationalization of railroads under the United States Railroad Adminsitration proved disasterous for the CM. It looked like the shortest distance on a map, and men in Washington DC who had never riden the CM sent it a glut of traffic in 1918. Then the USRA over-corrected and allowed total embargoing of the CM, excepting the Colorado Springs - Divide portion which was the vital connection for the Midland Terminal. When the war ended, the railroads were retuned to their owners, but the CM's owners felt that it would not be possible to compete with the D&RG, and opted for abandonment, and sale of the Colorado Springs - Divide portion to the Midland Terminal. Much Colorado Midland equipment went to the Midland Terminal at bargain prices.
Most of the Midland Terminal's traffic was gold ore, from mines in Cripple Creek to the Golden Cycle mill and smelter near Colorado City. The Golden Cycle Corporation which had come to control most of the mines realized that it would be less costly to mill the ore in the district, and ship gold bullion out by truck. In 1948 Golden Cycle decided to close the Colorado City mill and smelter, and build a new mill, the Carlton Mill, in the mining district. The mines would close during the construction of the Carlton Mill, allowing abandonment of the Midland Terminal once the last of the ore on hand had been moved. The Midland Terminal was abandoned in 1949, and promptly scrapped. Very little has survived, excepting observation car 29, formerly Colorado Midland 111, which is now at the Colorado Railroad Museum.
Charlie
Charles V. Mutschler
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2014 03:12PM by Charlie Mutschler.
